Source: Campaign For America's Future
On Tuesday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report saying 2 million-plus people who are only working in order to get health care will finally be able to leave those jobs thanks to the Affordable Care Act. This will open up badly needed jobs.
The right's propaganda machine immediately kicked into full speed with the lie, "Obamacare kills 2 million jobs." This lie shows again who they are and how they constantly work to trick people.
The CBO Report
The 175-page CBO report is titled "The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024." Appendix C, "Labor Market Effects of the Affordable Care Act: Updated Estimates" says that workers will "choose to supply less labor" that "represents a decline in the number of full-time-equivalent workers of about 2.0 million in 2017, rising to about 2.5 million in 2024."
A bit later it says, "The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in businesses' demand for labor, so it will appear almost entirely as a reduction in labor force participation and in hours worked relative to what would have occurred otherwise rather than as an increase in unemployment (that is, more workers seeking but not finding jobs) or underemployment (such as part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours per week)." (Emphasis ours.)
Translation: Millions of people will finally be free to choose to work rather than be forced into a job as the only way they can get insurance. So they will leave those jobs, opening them up for others. (It also says this reduction of people needing jobs will help drive wages up.)
The Lie
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) put out a press release, "This Non-Partisan Congressional Budget Office Report Confirms That ObamaCare Will Cost America 2 Million Jobs," that said, "ObamaCare is a massive burden on the economy" and "ObamaCare will push approximately 2 million workers out of the labor market."
Senate Republican Leader McConnell's office said, "Obamacare to print even more pink slips."
In Utah, "Senator Orrin Hatch says the New CBO Report Demonstrates Impact of Job-Killing Health Law."
Rep. Paul Ryan said this shows that the health care law is a "poverty trap."
The right's propaganda machine kicked into gear.
The Heritage Foundation experimented with various angles to see if any would catch on, such as "Explosive Report: How Obamacare Will Drive People Out of the Workforce," "CBO Report: Millions Will Lose Employment-Based Health Insurance," and "You Won't Believe How Many Working Hours Obamacare Is Killing."
Fox News weighed in with "ObamaCare could lead to loss of nearly 2.3 million US jobs, report says."
The Washington Times wrongly reported, "Obamacare will push 2 million workers out of labor market: CBO."
RedState also tried out several approaches: "The @NYTimes Touts 2.5 Million Full Time Job Losses as a Win," and "ObamaCare Will Cost America More Than Two Million Jobs."
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